FCI rice to be used for ethanol production

• Centre has allocated about 78,000 tonnes of rice from FCI stocks at a subsidised rate of Rs 20 per kg to distilleries for ethanol production for the ethanol supply year (ESY) 2020-21 (December-November).
• Ethanol is one of the most variable alternatives amongst biofuels.

• Currently, the grain-based distillery capacity is just about 258 crore litres and that is already committed to production of alcohol-based products.
• 16 crore litres of ethanol is supplied last year and this year it is going to be about 38 crore liters.
• It will help to achieve a 10 per cent ethanol blending target by 2021-22 supply year and thereafter 20 per cent ethanol blending by 2025.
• It will lead to 30-35 percent reduction in carbon monoxide, 20 per cent reduction in hydrocarbon.
• To achieve that target, over 1,000 crore liters of ethanol will be required to blend with the petrol.
• Half of this will come from the sugar the rest will come from grain-based distilleries.

• As per the Food Ministry estimates, about 165 lakh tons of grains will be utilized to produce the required ethanol from grains in 2025.
• In the current ethanol supply year, the ethanol production is expected to reach about 592 crore liter out of which 400 crore litres will come from sugar and the rest 192 crore liter from grains.
• As per the data available with the food ministry, till 31st May 2021, ethanol blending has reached 7.7% and by end of the current ethanol year, the government expects to achieve 8-8.5% blending.

National Policy on Biofuels, 2018.

• It categorises biofuels in various categories to enable extension of appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category.
• First Generation (1G): Bioalcohols, Biodiesel, etc.
• Second Generation (2G): Ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels, etc.
• Third Generation (3G): Butanol.
• Fourth Generation (4G) : Fuel from genetically engineered crops.

Objective:

• To achieve 20% ethanol-blending and 5% biodiesel-blending by the year 2030.
• It also expands the scope of feedstock for ethanol production and has provided incentives for production of advanced biofuels.
• The policy expands the scope of raw materials to be used for ethanol production by allowing the use of Sugarcane Juice, sugar-containing materials like Sugar Beet, starch containing materials like Cassava, damaged food grains like broken rice, and rotten potatoes which are unfit for human consumption.